Return to Neverlandis
by thegalaxsea
Summary: The Storm Hawks are visiting Terra Neverlandis, the home terra for most of the team. As they spend time there, will childhood memories resurface? Will they learn more about each other? And are two of the team falling for each other?
1. Home Sweet Home

Return to Neverlandis

The Condor drifted along peacefully through the sky, not a cloud to be seen. It was one of those days when Piper wanted to sit out on the deck and enjoy the sun and the silence. Too bad there wasn't any silence.

Finn was playing guitar horribly in his room. Piper couldn't believe someone could be so tone deaf. She winced as an extra high-pitched shriek emitted from his room. Piper was on the bridge, staring out at the front window. For once, she had nothing to do. Her maps were all updated, she had done Skye Fu training in the morning and she was awaiting a part she had ordered for her latest crystal experiment.

The Condor was on auto-pilot so there was no one else on the bridge. Stork was working on his trance helmet, Finn was obviously playing (or torturing) the guitar, and Junko, Aerrow and Radarr were fixing the skimmers from a recent run-in with some talons.

So Piper was feeling extremely bored and lonely on the bridge. She considered asking the guys if they wanted to play Berry Blitz when the door to bridge slid upwards, revealing Piper's Sky Knight, Aerrow. The red-head was looking backwards, calling something over his shoulder as he entered the bridge. He turned his head and saw Piper standing at the window.

"Hey Piper," Aerrow said, walking up to her and leaning on the helm.

Piper turned away from the sky and answered, "Hey Aerr – ha ha!"

Piper burst into laughter as she noticed Aerrow's face. It was smeared with oil and under his nose was a motor oil moustache.

"What? What's the joke?" Aerrow said, confused.

"Your face!" Piper managed between giggles.

Aerrow cautiously touched his face and found oil on his fingers.

"This is the work of Radarr." Aerrow confirmed, glancing at his reflection in the window.

His striking, emerald eyes narrowed at a little, furry, blue creature scampering out of the room. Piper grinned and pulled out a cloth. She began wiping the oil off Aerrow's face. He watched her tangerine eyes, determined to get every last bit off. When she was done, Piper threw the cloth in the bin and turned to see Aerrow staring at her.

"So, where do you want to go navigator?" Aerrow asked, looking serene.

Piper paused. Whenever there were days like this, Aerrow always let his squadron choose where to go. _He should be able to choose where to go for once_, Piper reasoned.

"Why don't you choose Sky Knight?" Piper answered.

The question seemed to have taken Aerrow off guard as he took a while to answer.

"Well, I like to go where my squadron likes to go." Aerrow finally replied, rubbing the back of his head.

Piper frowned, dissatisfied with his reply.

"There must be some place you'd like to go." She said more softly, looking up at him.

Aerrow found it hard to look away from the intensity of her gaze.

"Well, I've always wanted to see Terra Neverlandis again after we left it to become Storm Hawks."

Piper nodded slowly, "Yeah, I wonder if it's still the same as how we left it."

She walked over to cabinet and pulled out a map. It was old, torn, detailed and it was the first map Piper ever made.

"Neverlandis is two hours away from here." She informed him, tracing a path on the map with her finger.

Aerrow pushed the intercom button and spoke, "Everyone, we're going to Terra Neverlandis. We're going home!"

Aerrow waited three seconds and as he expected, the rest of the Storm Hawks burst in. Finn was in first, headphones still on and grinning widely. Neither Piper nor Aerrow knew how Finn had heard the message over the racket of his own 'music'. Next Junko and Stork filed in curiously. Lastly, Radarr dashed in and hopped onto Aerrow's shoulder with a happy squawk.

"So we're actually visiting Neverlandis? Our home?" Finn asked.

Aerrow grinned at his enthusiasm, "Yep, we sure are Finn."

"Awesome!" Finn shouted jubilantly.

Then he gasped and his eyes widened comically.

"I might find Mr. Snuggles again!"

He froze, "I-I mean I might find some of my old stuff…yeah."

At this, Aerrow and Piper cracked up laughing and Radarr gave Finn an incredulous look.

Stork spoke up, "Um, are Junko and I missing something here?"

"Oh right Stork," Piper said, giggling whenever she caught Aerrow's eye, "Back when Aerrow, Finn, Radarr and I lived on Terra Neverlandis, Finn used to own a teddy bear called Mr. Snuggles. He used to kiss it and talk to it in his sleep."

"Hey! I thought you guys didn't know about Mr. Snuggles. I kept him a secret!" Finn cried, feeling shocked.

Piper and Radarr exchanged exasperated glances as Aerrow said, "Finn, you were never good at keeping secrets."

Finn pouted, mumbling to himself as Aerrow, Piper and Radarr kept snickering. Even Stork cracked a smile at his misfortune.

"So," Junko said, scratching his chin, "Mr. Snuggles was your teddy like Mr. Bitsy was my teddy?"

His eyes began to water as he remembered the untimely end of Mr. Bitsy.

Finn reached up and put an arm around Junko's neck, saying reassuringly, "Hey Junko, buddy. Don't worry, you've got the Finnster. If I find Mr. Snuggles, I'll give him to you to make up for Mr. Bitsy."

Piper snorted, "Sorry Junko, but Finn wouldn't last a week after giving Mr. Snuggles to you without taking it back."

Finn took a step towards her, "Is that a bet?"

Piper took a step towards him so they were practically nose to nose. "Yes it is. Loser has to clean the bathroom for a month."

Finn's eyes narrowed, "You're on!"

They glared at each other for a moment longer, fiery amber and ocean blue, until Aerrow pulled them apart.

"Come on guys. We're going home to Neverlandis."

"Sorry Aerrow," Piper apologized, straightening up.

"_Sorry Aerrow_," Finn said, mimicking Piper's tone.

Piper stuck her tongue out at him.

"Okay guys, get ready because we'll stay at Terra Neverlandis for about a week."

The Storm Hawks split up and shuffled off to do their own thing. Aerrow and Radarr began playing cards in which Aerrow was losing badly. Radarr laid down his fifth set of winning cards.

"Come on, how come you always get the best cards?" Aerrow asked as Radarr squawked proudly.

As they kept playing, Aerrow found his eyes wandering over to Piper telling Stork the directions to Neverlandis. He noticed how the sunlight glinted off the tips of her midnight blue hair and the way she always seemed to be smiling, even when she was talking.

There was an indignant chirp and Aerrow snapped his head around to see Radarr waiting expectantly. He quickly made his turn and they continued the game. Again his eyes wandered to Piper who was now writing something on her map.

He liked the sound of her voice as she called something to Stork. She looked up and caught Aerrow staring at her. She gave him a tentative but beautiful smile and Aerrow returned it goofily. Her eyes sparkled at him entrancingly. Aerrow suddenly felt as light as air. She started to giggle at something next to him.

Thwack! Radarr had gotten up onto the table and whacked Aerrow's face with his cards.

"Sorry buddy," Aerrow said weakly.

Radarr gave him a low growl, jumped off the table and stalked off looking severely pissed off. Radarr didn't want to play if Aerrow wasn't concentrating. Aerrow watched him go guiltily while packing up the cards. He got up and moved over to Piper who was erasing lines on her map. She had a frown on her face.

"What's wrong Pi?" Aerrow asked, looking over her shoulder at the map.

"This was the first map I ever made and it's full of mistakes. I can't believe that I put the date in the bottom left hand corner and that I wrote my name in all capitals. Amateur mistakes!"

Aerrow, who thought these were very minor errors and that nobody really cared where the date was on a map said, "Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. After all, that was your first map."

He flashed her his special, boyish grin and Piper couldn't help but smile back. It was infectious.

"Even if you're not the best map maker in Atmos, which you are, you'll still be the best map maker in the world to me." Aerrow added quietly, blushing slightly and looking at his feet.

"That's so sweet." Piper said, equally as quiet.

She touched his arm, gathered her pencils and map and went to her room, leaving nothing but her flowery scent. Aerrow blinked a couple of times and shook his head dazedly.

Speaking about emotions was one of Aerrow's few weaknesses, especially to Piper. He knew he didn't tell Piper how much she meant to him nearly enough. There were so many things he wanted to say, so many things he wanted to mention but he could never seem to get it out.

He felt that he should return all the courage and inspirations Piper gave to him but he just couldn't. It was just like when Piper almost left the Storm Hawks for good. **(A.N. Episode Storm Warning)** Aerrow knew that Piper understood that he wanted to thank her for being there and doing all the stuff she does to keep the team running.

But he also knew that she would have like a little praise for all she did. Aerrow sighed, running a hand through his tousled, red hair. Girls were so complicated. Aerrow would have to worry about that another time. They were going to Neverlandis now. A place of childhood memories. Now where was that old, photo album?

Rumble. Junko patted his stomach. He needed a snack.

"I'll make something tasty!" Junko said, walking merrily into the kitchen.

Finn was opening the jar of Piper's sandcakes.

"Oh man, Piper hasn't made a new batch of sandcakes" He complained, putting the lid back on and shoving the jar away.

"That's okay," Junko said cheerfully, "I'm making a snack."

Finn started backing away.

"What exactly are you making?" He said warily, eyeing Junko who was opening a cupboard.

"Toast," Junko said simply, turning around with a loaf of bread in his arms.

Finn relaxed and moved back towards the counter.

"Hey, can I have some too?"

"Sure, I'm making my special 'jelly' spread to go on the toast." Junko replied, popping two pieces of bread into the toaster.

Finn's grin dropped. Whatever Junko's 'jelly' spread was, it couldn't be good. He could do a runner and escape before it was too late but Finn didn't want to hurt Junko's feelings when he had already agreed to eat some.

So Finn watched, nauseated as Junko started chucking various ingredients into the blender. A carrot, a banana, a potato, some cheese, a squid, some hairy purple berries (gross), some things which Finn did not want to know, a fish, a lemon, whoa, was that a shoe? Junko clamped on the lid and turned the blender on.

At this point, Finn looked away, unable to bear seeing all those ingredients get mixed up together. Slowly, Finn peeked at Junko. He was pouring the concoction into a bowl. Finn looked into it and saw that it was a sickly, yellow-brownish colour.

Finn's stomach churned uneasily. Junko began spreading the mixture onto the newly toasted toast. Finn now knew why it was called the 'jelly' spread. As Junko spread the liquid/solid/gas onto the bread, it wobbled and jiggled like jelly. And faint yellow smoke rose from it. Finn felt like he was going to puke.

"Um Junko, you know, I'm not that hungry anymore." Finn said quickly, wrinkling his nose at the smell of rotten eggs.

Junko took a big bite out of his piece of toast happily and said, "You should try it Finn. It tastes great!"

He placed the other piece of toast into Finn's hands. Junko watched him eagerly as Finn took a small nibble. He retched. It tasted like…like…something indescribably gross!

"Mmm, tastes good dude. Um, I've got to…get ready for Neverlandis. See ya!" Finn told Junko and dashed out of there as fast as he could with the putrid toast.

"I will never look at toast the same way again." Finn croaked, dumping it in the nearest bin which was in Piper's room.

Finn clawed at his tongue, shuddering as he walked out.

Piper strode along the corridor with her Neverlandis map and a couple of pencils. She was still blushing slightly from what Aerrow had said earlier. It was so sweet. Her heart fluttered at the thought of his charming smile which turned her world upside down. Piper smiled dreamily as she walked into her room.

Something smelled off – like rotten eggs. She put her map and pencils on her table and sniffed the air. She followed the stench to the bucked next to her door which contained her icers. She crouched down next to it and peered inside.

A piece of toast was just discernible under a pile of yellow goop. Piper used her deductive skills to work it out. There was a type of food in the bucket. Really bad food. That could have only been made by Junko.

Then somebody who didn't like it, dumped it here. Well nobody really liked Junko's food except for himself. And then, the person was dense enough to assume that a bucket in _her _room full of crystals was a bin. That person could have only been…

"FINN!"


	2. More than just a girl

"FINN!"

A familiar shout to the rest of the inhabitants of the Condor. Stork rolled his eyes, Radarr shook his head, Junko stopped mid-bite of his rancid toast and Aerrow bumped his head on the table he was searching under. A blonde, squirrelly boy froze in his tracks. What did he do this time? Finn was about to find out as Piper stepped out from behind a corner. He let out a girly shriek at Piper's sudden appearance and jumped backwards. She was holding the piece of disgusting toast with a pair of tongs and she had an angry glint in her eyes.

"What is this?"

"Ah, I see you've tried Junko's 'jelly' toast."

"Don't play games with me Finn." Piper said impatiently, dangling the toast in front of his face.

A drop of the yellow gunk fell to the floor and burned a hole through it. Finn gulped.

Piper thrusted the toast closer, "You put this in my collection of icers."

With a furious glare she twisted away from Finn and snapped her wrist, sending the toast flying straight into the bin in the corner of the room with uncanny precision.

"Don't kill me." He whimpered.

Piper was about to launch herself at him with an attack when strong arms caught her, vice-like around her arms.

"Piper,"

"Let me at him! I sick of his stupid pranks!"

"Piper,"

"It'll take ages to get that gunk off my icers!"

"Piper!"

Piper turned and glared at her captor. Aerrow stared sternly back.

"What are you going to achieve by hurting Finn?" He asked.

"Sweet revenge," Piper replied grimly.

"Come on, Pi. Finn's done worse things than this. Violence isn't the way to solve it." Aerrow said soothingly.

Finn piped up, "Yeah, this is no worse than the time when I –"

"Stay out of this Finn." Aerrow said sharply. "Just forgive and forget." He said comfortingly to his navigator.

Piper seemed to have calmed down. Aerrow let go of her and as fast as lightning, she smacked Finn across the face. She left the room with and expression of grim satisfaction. Aerrow and Finn looked at each other and Aerrow shrugged.

"Why'd you let her do that?" Finn asked, rubbing his stinging, pink cheek, "That really hurt!"

Aerrow grinned, walking away to continue his search for the photo album. "You deserved it."

* * *

Piper entered her room, scrunching up her face with displeasure from the stink coming from her bucketful of icers. She pulled up a stool next to the bucket and began gently scrubbing the goo off. The process was long and tedious as she worked at a slow pace, in fear of damaging the crystals.

After about an hour, a pile of gleaming, blue frost crystals lay on her table. And a big bucket of lumpy, yellow, smelly, substance. Piper put the bucket into the garbage disposal and dusted herself off, satisfied. Now that was done, she could write in her Squadron Log. She sat at her table and opened the black book with the Storm Hawks insignia imprinted on the front in silver. She flipped to a new page and began to write.

Squadron Log

_21__st__ May 2010_

_Today we are going to Terra Neverlandis. The home of Aerrow, Finn, Radarr and I, prior to becoming the Storm Hawks. Previously, it had not been in Cyclonian control and was uninhabited since we left. So hopefully nothing much has changed since we lived there. Finn is annoying as usual. He threw some of Junko's cooking into my bucketful of icers. It was horrible. _

_Stork is slightly more cheerful than usual. He hasn't mentioned a thing about mind worms today…yet. Junko is as merry as always. Unfortunately he made one of his 'special' recipes which ended up in my room, courtesy of 'The Finnster'. Radarr is misunderstood as usual. He and Aerrow were playing cards and Aerrow wasn't concentrating on the game and ignored him. Unintentionally of course. _

_Speaking of Aerrow, he was staring at me a lot today. A lot more than normal. I can't help but feel shivers down my spine whenever I catch his eye. Also I got into a bet with Finn. If he finds his old teddy, Mr. Snuggles, he has to give it to Junko as a replacement for Mr. Bitsy. I'm betting that Finn won't last a week without taking it back. The loser has to clean the bathroom for a month. Yuck! Cleaning it for one week in every six weeks is enough for me so I'd better win this bet._

Piper finished off her entry and closed the book. She sat back in her chair and looked around her room. Everything was neat, tidy and spotless. Crystals sparkled from every shelf, reflecting the sunlight filtering through her window.

Her room was her second favourite place on the Condor, after the crystal lab. Whenever she was tired or unhappy, Piper would retreat to her room and gaze out the window. What she was outside changed everyday – one of the perks of living in the air.

Piper could make out a close terra on the horizon which she identified as Terra Neverlandis. Her excitement mounted. There could be no more than ten minutes before they arrived. Her gaze dropped to a photo in a frame which sat on the window sill. It was one of her favourites.

The photo was taken of the whole squadron on the bridge. On the far left, Stork was at his usual place at the, glancing casually at the camera. Next Finn was making hand pistols at the camera, his mouth open in the middle of saying 'Chicka-cha!'.

Next to him, Radarr was doing a karate fighting stance while balancing on Aerrow's shoulder. Aerrow was smiling happily at Piper, his arms around both Piper's and Finn's shoulders. Piper was looking at the ceiling, in the middle of rolling her eyes while making a smart comment on Finn's catch phrase, all the while smiling.

Last but not least, Junko was on the far right, an arm around Piper's back. He was facing a little away from the camera as he had been running into the shot after he set up the camera to auto. The whole picture was on a tilt as Junko had put the camera down onto the table unsteadily in his hurry to be in the photo.

Every time Piper looked at that photo, it brought a smile to her face. She had a couple of other photos of the squadron. On e of all of them in fighting positions and weapons out and another with them all standing stiffly next to each other and wearing forced blank expressions as they tried a formal photo. But this picture showed the Storm Hawks as they really were – A bunch of kids who liked to have fun and were one, big family.

"I like that picture too." A voice mused, shocking her out of her reverie.

Piper twisted around and glared reproachfully at Aerrow who was examining the photo in interest.

"I'm sorry I startled you. We arrived at Neverlandis a minute ago. Stork announced it on the intercom but you hadn't seemed to have heard it. So I came to get you." Aerrow explained, looking around her room.

"Oh, thanks." Piper replied, getting up. Together they started walking to the bridge.

"We were just discussing that someone should take a skimmer down to the terra, just to make sure it's safe and there aren't any Cyclonians down there waiting to ambush us. We're still deciding who should go." Aerrow said.

"I'll go." Piper said automatically.

Aerrow's eyebrows pulled together in a frown.

"It could be dangerous. I should go with Radarr." He insisted.

"I'm perfectly capable of doing this mission. I _am_ the best at recon." Piper challenged.

Aerrow's jaw set, "No,"

"Come on Aerrow, why not?" Piper said persuasively, "I'll-I'll take Radarr with me."

Aerrow pondered this.

"Okay," He said reluctantly, his eyes full of concern, "But contact me right away if there's trouble."

"I will, and calm down Aerrow. What's wrong? It's just a simple recon mission. I've done heaps of these before."

Aerrow's eyes were downcast as he mumbled, "I don't know. It's just that I feel like I shouldn't let you go out there alone. It's my duty to keep the Storm Hawks safe…to keep _you_ safe." Aerrow fell silent, unable to convey his feelings any further.

However, Piper grinned cheekily, "You overprotective Sky Knight. I'm not useless you k now. I can fend for myself. Besides, now you know how I feel when you do all those stupid, daredevil stunts."

"Stupid?" Aerrow said in mock hurt, "I would call them death-defying stunts."

"Well I call them stupid and reckless." Piper's voice softened, "But that's why I love – I mean that's what makes you who you are."

She swiftly covered up her mistake but her cheeks burned at what she had intended to say. Luckily, Aerrow didn't seem to have noticed.

"So who am I Pi?" Aerrow said, urging her to continue.

"Well, you're Aerrow, famous and heroic Sky Knight. The brave and fearless leader of the Storm Hawks. One of the Atmos' best flyers. A deadly fighter."

"Wow, I didn't know I was all that legendary." Aerrow grinned.

"Hey, I'm not done yet!" Piper said, "The Dark Ace's arch enemy. Cyclonia's most wanted. A stubborn and sometimes immature boy who's sometimes even denser than Finn. A cocky, bone-headed moron who doesn't know when to quit the crazy stunts."

"I'm denser than Finn? What –"

Piper laughed, "It's all true and I'm still not done yet!"

She took a deep breath and continued, "A kind, caring and loyal guy. A self-sacrificing, polite boy who doesn't know how to criticize another person. A handsome, (snort from Aerrow) sweet and understanding leader who is different to all the other guys I know – in a good way. And most of all you're the best friend in the world a girl could have and I'm lucky to have you."

Piper smiled shyly at Aerrow, hoping she hadn't freaked him out with all that information. Aerrow w_asn't_ freaking out, but he _was_ mind blown. Never had anyone said so truly who he was.

He stared at her, unable to phrase what he was thinking. Piper's smile faded. She cringed at Aerrow's dumbstruck face, cursing herself for blabbering on like that. He was just asking a simple question.

Piper started to walk away when his arms wrapped around her waist and his chin rested on her shoulder. Her face lit up at his happy, shining, emerald eyes, speaking words he did not need to say. She felt his cheek lift against hers in a smile.

"What are you guys doing?" An all too familiar voice asked.

The two sprang apart, blushing furiously. Aerrow rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and Piper rubbed her arm sheepishly. Both looked anywhere but at each other and Finn. Finn's wide, blue eyes swiveled between them, narrowed in suspicion. His face split into a devious grin.

"Oh, did I interrupt something?" He said, feigning innocence, "Did you two need some privacy? You seemed pretty comfortable…" He trailed off with a barely suppressed smirk.

"Don't be stupid Finn. We weren't doing anything." Piper snapped, glaring fiercely at him.

"It didn't look like nothing." Finn retorted, cocking his eyebrow maliciously.

"Finn," Aerrow said, his patience waning, "I was just giving Piper a hug because she said something really nice."

He smiled charmingly at her and she beamed back. But Finn was annoyingly persistent,

"So what exactly did Piper say?"

Piper shoved pas him, calling over her shoulder, "Real mature. Why don't you get a dictionary and find the meaning of 'mentally retarded'!"

Aerrow grinned at her remark and walked after her, clapping Finn on he back.

"You just got outwitted by a girl." Aerrow informed him.

But in his mind, he knew that Piper was much more than just a girl.


	3. Wrong Move

**I am genuinely sorry for taking this long. But after reading your reviews, I am inspired to get a move on and put another chapter up. I haven't been completely useless all this time though; I've actually written another ten chapters for this story.**

**Hopefully I will update quicker since it's the summer holidays. Thank you so much for all those who reviewed, it made my day. Also if you haven't already, you might want to check out my other Aerrow/Piper story: What the latest scoop? Now without further ado, here is the next chapter.**

* * *

"No,"

"Why?"

"Because I said so,"

"But Aerrow,"

"No Piper,"

"But you already agreed I could go,"

"Well I changed my mind."

Piper glowered at Aerrow's firm expression. He uncrossed his arms and changed to a pleading tone, "Come on Pi, you know I hate to see you sad."

Piper huffed and looked away, unimpressed. She sat on her newly repaired heliscooter in the hangar bay and Aerrow stood in front of her, blocking the way. Her hand itched to rev the throttle and start flying. Junko, Stork and Finn waited off to the side, watching the battle between Aerrow and Piper with amusement.

Radarr sat on the back of Piper's heliscooter, tapping his foot impatiently. He chirped in a tone which meant, _Shut up Aerrow, I want to go! _

Aerrow had had second thoughts about letting Piper and Radarr going down to Terra Neverlandis. After seeing them get on her tiny heliscooter did he realize how petite and fragile she appeared. He scolded himself, imagining what Piper would say (or more likely snap) if he told her she looked fragile.

She was fantastic at Sky Fu and was very strong after training with Argyn **(A.N. Episode: The Lesson) **On top of all that, she had all her crystals. So she would be relatively safe and with Radarr's luck and helpfulness, she was bound to succeed. Nevertheless, an irrational part of him thought of Piper as the weakest member of the team, probably because she was the only girl.

Anxiety ate at his insides at the thought of her fighting against several Cyclonians alone. Nope, Piper was not going on this recon mission. Radarr whined loudly. Aerrow tried to find a compromise for his faithful co-pilot.

"You and I could go Radarr." He told him in what he hoped was an inviting manner.

Radarr shook his head and frowned at Aerrow. He didn't think it was fair that Piper wasn't allowed to go. He didn't understand why Aerrow wouldn't let Piper go when he would let anyone else. It was strange. Finn yawned, getting slightly bored with the argument.

"What's up with you Aerrow? Just let Piper go." He said lazily. He had an ulterior motive for sticking up for Piper – he could sneak into her room and steal a Chroma crystal to redecorate his room while she was gone.

"Yeah Aerrow," Junko chimed in, "What's wrong?"

Stork's eye twitched as he studied Aerrow. "Yep, he's definitely got mind worms. We should all be checked but we're doomed anyway." He said darkly, rushing away as fast as he could.

Aerrow glared at the rest of the members of his squadron. They hardly ever teamed up against him like this.

"I'm still the Sky Knight." He said commandingly. Finally his gaze rested on Piper and he let all his concern for her show in his face.

Piper read his expression and smiled reassuringly, "Trust me. You trusted me in the Stratosphere so trust me now." Aerrow desperately tried to come up with a retort; like how the Stratosphere was a completely different situation because she wasn't the one who was in danger. But he lost his train of thought as he stared into her sun-like eyes.

"Okay,"

Piper gave a whoop of joy and Radarr squawked in relief. Finally that was over with. Aerrow stepped out of her way and watched as she revved the engine and Radarr snapped his goggles on. Piper flashed him a quick smile before she shot down the runway and into the sky. Aerrow turned to go back to the bridge so he could stay in contact with her.

Finn casually slung an arm around his neck and said, "So what was that all about?"

* * *

Nothing but the glowing, orange sunset sky flooded Piper's vision. She hovered in mid-air, her heliscooter thrumming softly. She closed her eyes at the light breeze which skimmed her face and ruffled her indigo hair. It had been a while since she had gone flying.

"Nice day isn't it Radarr?" She commented and Radarr chirped in agreement. Though she loved flying, she knew someone who loved it twice as much – Aerrow. She looked down at the small terra below. There was no activity down there as far as she could see and it looked abandoned.

'_Piper, do you read me?_' Aerrow's voice called over the radio.

"Yes, I read you." Piper replied.

'_What's your status?'_

"Both Radarr and I are fine. Terra Neverlandis looks uninhabited from where I am but I'm going down for a closer loo –"

Piper's finger slipped off the communicator button as a red blast shot up past her from the terra.

'_Piper?'_Aerrow shouted, panic-stricken.

Another blast came and she swerved her heliscooter out of the way just in time. Piper unclipped her staff from her belt and extended it to its full length. Piper glared down at the no longer uninhabited terra and attached a blazer crystal to the end of her staff. Cyclonians just never knew when to quit.

* * *

(A few minutes earlier)

Aerrow shook off Finn's arm and replied to his question, "I was just worried about her, that's all."

He waited for Finn's onslaught of accusations but he just said, "I'll ask you about it later. I have some…uh…business to attend to." Finn started walking away, trying not to look suspicious.

"Does that _business _happen to include stealing one of Piper's crystals?" Aerrow suggested casually. Finn froze mid-step and turned around slowly with a fake, innocent grin plastered to his face.

"Where did you get that idea from Aerrow? I would _never_ do such a thing!" He said angelically.

Aerrow however, was undeceived, "Go and get ready in case Piper needs us. You've already annoyed her enough today."

"What? It was purely an accident dude! I thought I was putting Junko's toast in a bin." Finn exclaimed truthfully.

"Sure, and the wastelands will freeze over." Aerrow replied sarcastically. Finn frowned. Why didn't Aerrow believe him? – he was telling the truth!

"But –"

"Have you ever heard of the story about the Boy who cried Sky Shark?" Stork cut in smoothly, hunched over the Condor's helm as Aerrow entered the bridge, "The boy kept lying that he was being attacked by a sky shark to get attention. One day a sky shark really attacked him but no one believed him when he cried for help. He was eaten by the sky shark. Just think of all the millions of infectious bacteria in that meal." He finished darkly, shuddering.

Finn stared at him, open-mouthed at his outburst.

"Just a bit of trivia for you," Stork added as a matter-of-factly. There was an awkward silence on the bridge.

"Um…I'll contact Piper." Aerrow said, breaking the unbearably long silence, "Finn, you and Junko get your skimmers ready. I have a nasty feeling that Talons are around here."

Finn noticed that Aerrow always seemed a bit on edge whenever Piper wasn't around. He nodded and walked out a little too obediently. Aerrow shrugged and picked up the radio.

"Piper, are you there?" He called.

'_Yes, I'm here.' _Aerrow felt a strange swooping sensation in his stomach and felt oddly relieved at the sound of her voice. He unconsciously smiled.

_Get your mind out of the gutter, _he scolded himself mentally.

"What's your status?"

'_Both Radarr and I are fine. Terra Neverlandis looks uninhabited from where I am but I'm going down for a closer loo-' _

There was heavy static and then the line went dead. Aerrow's heart beat quickened and the radio slipped out of his numb fingers, clattering onto the table. Piper was in trouble, he knew it.

He felt adrenaline kick in as he sprinted to the hangar bay. There was no need to call the others; he wasn't completely sure if Piper was in danger anyway. He hopped onto his skimmer at full speed and revved the engine.

_Click! _

He tried again. _Click, click! _

Aerrow hit the dashboard in frustration and climbed off. He opened the hood and slapped his forehead. He had forgotten to put the power crystals back into his skimmer when he had fixed it earlier. Aerrow ran back to his room for the crystals, praying he would get to Piper in time.

* * *

_One down, four to go, _Piper thought to herself as she struck one of the Talons on the terra with a blast from her staff. She watched him fall off and open up his parachute. She steered the heliscooter around the enormous tree at one end of the terra which towered over the make-shift fort which she had helped to make several years ago. A wave of nostalgia hit her as her eyes raked over her old, untouched home. Radarr chirped wistfully.

A crimson blast of energy whizzed past her ear. Piper would have to visit memory lane another time; she had to take care of these Talons first. She parked her vehicle next to the tree and she and Radarr quickly clambered off. The talons were waiting at the foot of the hill on which Piper and Radarr were standing on, glaring menacingly.

Piper sprinted towards the Talons and leapt over them gracefully, flipping several times before landing neatly behind them. She froze one with a flick of her staff and kicked another in the gut. She glanced over at Radarr who was throwing pinecones which were littered on the ground at a particularly burly talon. He grunted in pain and swung wildly at Radarr.

She switched her focus back on her battle. One scrawny talon was standing a little away with a confused expression and his staff held loosely at his side. Piper took no time in taking advantage of that. She sprinted full on to the gangly talon and planted her staff firmly into the ground with both hands. In the momentum, she swung herself around her staff and placed an almighty kick on the Talon's backside, sending him sailing through the air and over the edge of the terra. Piper smiled proudly and turned around to see Radarr push the big talon over the edge too.

She scanned the area and spotted the talon frozen from her icer crystal. Smirking, she and Radarr pushed him over the terra and Piper pulled out his parachute out for him. She watched him float down and had a sudden sick feeling in her stomach. Wasn't there one Talon that she and Radarr hadn't 'escorted' away from the terra?

She snapped around and saw a sneering face before a blinding, red hot blast.

She felt herself falling before everything blacked out.

* * *

Aerrow shoved the power crystal into his skimmer's crystal converter impatiently and clambered on. He gunned the engine and the skimmer shot off the runway into the sky. Normally Aerrow would be whooping in exhilaration at the speed but today Aerrow kept his head down and his mind focussed. He had a really strong gut feeling of foreboding about what was going to happen soon and he wanted to prevent it.

He zoomed towards Terra Neverlandis and noticed some activity down there. Talons. He knew it. He watched Piper expertly kick one in the gut and freeze another with her staff. Radarr was ditching pinecones at a large talon.

Aerrow started to relax. How could he have doubted his team mates? He loosened his grip on the throttle and then regained it doubly tight as he saw a talon sneaking up on an unsuspecting Piper.

"PIPER!" He yelled, flying down there as fast as he could, "WATCH OUT!"

He watched in horror as Piper turned around and was hit in the face with a fiery, red blast. She started to fall fast over the edge of the terra.

"PIPER!" He cried in terror.

He zoomed down past the terra and Radarr hopped into his sidecar with an anxious chirp. He hadn't seen his best buddy look this afraid or angry. They flew down below where Piper was falling, only having a few seconds to act. Aerrow jumped onto the wing of the skimmer with practised perfection and Radarr swiftly took over the controls.

A cloud of doubt hung over Aerrow as the thought that he wouldn't catch her. He looked up and with practised skill, caught Piper safely in his arms. He thought his heart would break when he saw her charred face with burns on her cheek and neck.

Getting hit with a firebolt crystal at close range was dangerous.

Instantly Aerrow was filled with fury at the evil Talon who had done this to her. How dare he hurt his Piper! Woah, did he just say _his _Piper. Talk about possessive. His anger melted away those side thoughts as he leapt into action.

"Radarr, take us back up to the terra. I have to get revenge." He said in a deadly, low voice.

Radarr nodded and glanced worriedly at him. Aerrow wasn't one to get revenge. He pulled the skimmer up and Aerrow stepped off. Setting Piper carefully on the ground, he spied the despicable Talon and his temper flared to boiling point.

He was mad.

"Stay away from her!" He snarled at the smirking Talon.

The Talon laughed, "Angry that I burned your girlfriend to a crisp?"

"SHUT UP!"

Aerrow's anger peaked and he summoned his energy. He unleashed his Lightning Claw move on the no longer grinning Talon. The force of it knocked him off the terra.

"And she's not my girlfriend!" Aerrow bellowed after him but a part of him wished to say the opposite.

His anger fizzled out and was replaced by dread. He ignored the homey terra he was on; he had only eyes for Piper. He picked her up gingerly, bridal style, and got onto his skimmer with the utmost care. Radarr flew them to the Condor silently.


End file.
